Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Headless Female Corpse

Feeling the strange looks from the people around her, You Bing Yue glared at Red Luan, dropped the box, and turned to leave.

Red Luan stood with hands on hips and called after her: “Running already? With skin that thin, how did you dare to steal someone else’s man in broad daylight?”

“Hey, hey, hey, if you can’t handle losing, do you want me to hand over the spicy strips business to you?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind. It’s not like I live on this alone.”

“Hey, hey, hey, why are you running faster?”

Watching You Bing Yue flee, Red Luan lifted her chin like a victorious peacock and strode toward Yiluan Charity.

“Little punk!”

She didn’t mind other people sharing a slice of the spicy strips pie. Making money wasn’t shameful.

But You Bing Yue was clearly not here to earn money. She was here to disgust people.

That she would not tolerate.

The young lord trailed after her, eyes full of admiration: “No wonder you’re Official Yu’s friend. Boss Jiang, your mouth is amazing.”

Red Luan glanced sideways at him: “Do you want a taste of it yourself?”

The young lord stood up straight: “No.”

“Hmph.”

Yu Zhi Yi heard about the scene outside Drunken Flower House about four hours later.

At that time, she had just left the Ministry of Justice. After listening to Li Rou’s account, she raised an eyebrow.

Li Rou heard it directly from Ministry of Justice people, with no exaggeration, so Yu Zhi Yi understood exactly what Red Luan and You Bing Yue had said.

You Bing Yue had actually claimed Red Luan should help her?

Did they know each other before?

[Or… something else?]

Yu Zhi Yi thought of the part of Red Luan’s face she couldn’t read when they first met and understood.

Maybe they came from the same world.

Back when she first met Red Luan, she could only read part of Red Luan’s face. The other half was covered by a fog she could not pierce. She had thought she was not skilled enough.

Later, as she and Red Luan grew close and shared ties of cause and effect, it became even harder to see clearly, so she stopped thinking about it.

Now she realized the unseen part of Red Luan’s face had been blocked by the Heavenly Mechanism Device.

Still, she did not care much. [No matter where Red Luan came from, she is my friend.]

“Lord, this way please.”

Constable Song pointed to a sedan chair not far away.

Yu Zhi Yi gave a small nod.

The chair swayed, and soon they reached a run-down house.

Yu Zhi Yi stepped down. Constable Song came up and said: “Lord, this is the place.”

After getting out, Yu Zhi Yi looked around, then at Constable Song himself, before walking forward and saying: “Tell me the case.”

After Red Luan left earlier today, Constable Song had arrived with a document from the Court of Judicial Review asking for her help.

Recently, the city had seen several headless corpses, all of them women.

Most importantly, all were pregnant.

The victims included poor commoners and families of officials; two days ago, even a relative of the royal family had nearly been killed.

The Court of Judicial Review had sent people to chase the killer, but the murderer was cunning. Other than leaving a number on the ground after each killing, there were no clues.

To prevent more victims, the Court of Judicial Review decided to ask Yu Zhi Yi to help solve the case.

It was a chance to earn merit, so Yu Zhi Yi did not refuse.

At the door, she paused to sense the place. She felt no trace of yin energy and could not help knitting her brows.

When she pushed the door open, the stench of blood rushed out.

Behind her, Li Rou went pale. What she had just eaten surged up to her throat, and she nearly threw up.

It took a huge effort for her to swallow it back down.

But in the next instant, she still could not help running outside.

Soon, the sound of Li Rou retching “wah-wah” came from the yard.

Inside the room, a headless woman’s corpse sat upright.

It faced the doorway. Above its neck was only emptiness.

Not only that, a big hole had been cut in her belly.

What should have been a round belly was now an empty space. In the cold moonlight, everyone could even see intestines that had fallen out.

The intestines dangled to the floor, leaving a puddle of yellow, white, and red lumps.

It was cold out, yet many white maggots crawled over the wound.

From that yellow-white-red puddle rose a stench that was hard to bear.

Seeing that Yu Zhi Yi showed no reaction, Constable Song said with respect: “No wonder you’re Official Yu. Even we, who are used to all kinds of corpses, felt sick the first time we saw this one.”

Yu Zhi Yi did not answer. She walked a circle around the corpse and asked: “Have you found the victim’s family?”

“We have,” Constable Song said.

He sighed: “This was a hard-luck family. An old mother raised her son alone. The son died in battle while serving in the army, leaving only the old mother and a new daughter-in-law.”

“Luckily, not long after the son left, the daughter-in-law was found to be pregnant. Counting the time, it must have happened before he went away.”

“With that new hope, the two women’s life seemed to brighten.”

“Who could have known this would happen? Now it’s one corpse and two lives lost. The old mother is half-dead with grief. She is holding on with her last breath, waiting for our yamen to find the killer.”

Yu Zhi Yi said nothing. After circling the body twice, she went to examine the other things in the room.

Seeing her wander the house without a word, Constable Song could not help asking: “Official Yu, did you find any clues?”

Yu Zhi Yi returned to the corpse. Her lovely face was cool and steady as water as she said: “I have a guess, but I’m not certain. Let’s go look at the other bodies.”

A hint of disappointment crossed Constable Song’s eyes.

“You seem to think I can solve the case quickly?” Yu Zhi Yi arched a brow at him.

Constable Song gave an honest smile: “I thought people of the Mystic Sect could summon the souls of the dead and ask them who the killer was.”

“I see,” Yu Zhi Yi said with a nod, then added something that left Constable Song dumbfounded: “I’m not summoning because there are no souls to summon.”

“What do you mean?” Constable Song’s face showed sudden fear: “Did something eat their souls?”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at the female corpse again and said: “Saying that isn’t wrong. Her soul is gone. Whether it was eaten or hidden, I can’t read her face, so I don’t know yet.”

“Come. Let’s see the other corpses.”

They walked toward the morgue.

Inside, four headless female corpses were laid out in a row. All of them were like the first: the child in the womb had been removed.

These bodies had been put in order, and the organs stuffed back into the belly, but because the case was still open, they had not been stitched.

Li Rou’s face was white, and her legs trembled.

Staring at the morgue door flickering with red torchlight, she felt it was like a dark, gaping mouth of a demon.

Even before she went in, she was shaking with cold.

“Mi… miss,” she called weakly.

Yu Zhi Yi turned to look at her. Li Rou’s face was as pale as paper. Though she shivered, sweat still beaded and rolled down her forehead.

“May I not go in?” she asked.

Li Rou was truly afraid, and she worried she would embarrass her miss again.

Yu Zhi Yi patted her shoulder and said gently: “No.”